OK you noticed the EX because it’s the Low price leader in the showroom, There a lot of reasons for this , Good and not so good.

• is the design is fully matured and the tooling is totally amortized and there have been no changes since the Dinosaurs died. Kawasaki could give them away to new riders just to establish brand loyalty and show a profit.

• #2 all the stuff on the bike is Old tech. the design of the engine and the fact that it’s carburetted not FI and all the running gear, like forks and tires is just enough to suit entry lever riders. Generally speaking the costs of upgrading all that’s necessary to be as competent as a more modern bike far exceed the additional price advantage in the first place. Or don’t think you can make a silk pures out of a Sow’s ear.

• General performance: It’s really amazing what it can do right out of the box. And is the result of stretching almost every component to the very edge of it life expectancy. Particularly the engine. There is no, I repeat No UN found Hp in there anywhere and any attempts to find some will be met with dismal failure.

• Parts and repairs: although this bike sells for so little, the parts to repair it and the Dealer labor too fix it are the same as a 20,000 machine. Another reason why K could afford to give these things away is : since they are aimed at newbees the expectation that those folks will return to the dealers for very easy stuff like oil changes is very high. And the profit the dealers make on these transactions far outweighs the profit from the original sale.

Major problems to look out for on a used purchase.

Any damage to body work is Not insignificant, the replacement parts are murderously high. look up those costs from a dealer and demand price reductions in order with the damage. from the seller. don’t take his word for it.

Engine:
Runs rough or not at all or on 1 Cylinder means at the very least a Carb removal and cleaning from an Expert, to the tune of $200 or more.
Any noises from the transmission (particularly on pre 94 bike) in Not normal and is big time cost to remove the engine and repair the trans. Except clutch slippage.

After market stuff, like exhausts and Jet kits do not increase the value of a bike in fact actually reduce it’s value in direct proportion to the costs of Replacing those objects. UN less of course the Stock stuff come with the bike. the the price is as a stock bike.

Wear & tear. You should expect to see some on a used bike, like tires and brakes, that need service. High milage bikes should be avoided. I personally wouldn’t touch anything with 20,000 miles or more showing. These things just don’t stand up well. Of course there are some out there that are OK. but they must pass all of thee above first.